The Dog's Loyalty
by Tally Mai-chan
Summary: Follow my fate like a good dog? No thank you, I'll run free, howling like the wolf. Akatsuki. OC
1. Chapter 1

Me: Hey, new story I had an idea for. Now sure if I'm ever going to post it (I know that I do have one story that I have several chapters of but never posted at all) But we'll see what happens.

Chapter 1: The pact

_"Inubatsu Suzukanene!" A tall woman scolded, one bony hand on her hip. She cast her glare out across the large field where her class was sitting quietly, all the young adults sitting contemplatively on the grass, all but one. "Inubatsu Suzukanene!" The woman called again, a harsh bark in her tone. She was using her Inu powers. The vibrating wave of her voice extending out through the field. Her students near by held their ears in anguish. Whimpering slightly._

_"What!" A voice called back, very annoyed. A mess of tan hair, neglected and let wild and sandy skin surrounding brilliant gray eyes came up the hill. Suzukanene in all her feral glory, dressed in a light gray short kimono walked up. Staring down at the ground, refusing to meet the sensei's eyes._

_"I will consult your guardian about your behavior Inubatsu-dono." The woman said dejectedly. "Now sit and be good." The woman turned her back to address her class when she heard a rustle behind her. She turned and lunged but too late. Suzukanene was already gone and down the hill. Her arms stretched out and howling into the wind. Heading right into the forest._

_"Sensei!" One boy with black hair raised his hand politely. His sensei ignored him, then pointed sharply to him. "Why wont Suzu come to class?"_

_"Because." Their sensei said slowly, messaging her temple. "That girl wont make it as an Inu." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "Class, what is the most important thing to an Inu?"_

_The calls raised their answer together, the words just barely heard in their mass of voices. _

_The pact._

_"The pact is sacred to us Inu. Without it we will die. The pact is the source of all our powers. If we don't make a pact with a human then we will die and out spirits will never find rest." She said expressively, treating each word with care. _

_"Then Suzu will-" The boy started to say but stopped suddenly, not wanting to say those words. Their sensei nodded, the gesture sealing the subject. _

_"Don't be like Suzukanene class, follow your destiny and make your pact."_

_***  
_

Suzukanene broke through the dense foliage that extruded over the scarce animal trail. She strained her ears for any sound, any abnormally. Branches grabbed at her and tree roots tripped her. Every shadow jumped at her, ever break of a branch deadly. She crashed through a thicket, the branches catching her and entangling her. She struggled and pulled; every second was vital. She couldn't waist time.

They were after her, people with inhuman abilities and skills. She remembered one of them, the one who breathed fire. He first did these strange things with his hands and then the fiery blaze almost caught her. She ran but they were faster than her, moving so fast her eyes couldn't trace their movements. She lost them somehow in the undergrowth of the forest.

They were eerily strong and fast but she knew how to hide. How to move and not been seen. These humans were blundering idiots unlike stealthy her. The foxes in the forest home taught her how to move like shadows. These humans had no such training. They made lots of noise as they traveled through the forest.

With a final tug she freed herself from the vines and stopped. Listening for any sign of the humans. The forest was silent like death. Unmoving and still, cold and final.

She ran, running from the darkness, running from the humans. A spurt of laughter escaped her; she stopped again, looking around. The sound of her voice was explosive in the silence. It was ironic, she through, an Inu whose very lives depended on making pacts with humans and now she was running for her life from them.

"Damn it..." She cursed. She was losing it; she was going crazy. The woods around closed in, branches became long spiny fingers, the vines twisted around her feet. The air was suffocating her. The animals of the night stalked in the shadows, lusting for her virgin blood. Their teeth aimed at her throat. She was being hunted and there was no escape.

A glint of light flashed before her when blood filled her vision, red staining the dark green world of the forest. A rearing pain in her shoulder hurled her back into reality. Skin meet earth as she collapsed to the ground, blood oozing from the deep wound. A metal knife, dark and menacing was lodged into her skin. She sniffed it, the smell of human tainted it.

But how had they found her, she never heard them, she never smelled them. A young man appeared before her, his face hidden behind a red mask. Its black eye holes, empty of all life. She cried out, barking madly like a caged animal. She kicked and punched, lashing out blindly hitting whatever ventured within her reach. She banged up against wood and earth and then solid flesh. Her shoulder burned and the pain became almost too much. Whoever she hit backed up; his companions had arrived. She heard them humans talking, planning.

_Run. Get away. Hide_. The thoughts flew through her mind. _Run away. Escape. Get out of there! _The voice of panic urging her stronger and stronger but her body refused to move. She was frozen with fear.

Limp on the ground, unmoving, she laid, panting heavily. The humans stopped talking and started to stalk slowly to her. They were quiet; she couldn't hear their slow death walk to her. They tricked her. The reality hit her. They tricked her, she thought they were lumbering idiots that could be heard a mile away but they could be just as silent as her.

"No..." She whispered, fear sinking in. "... no... not... like this..."

Glints of scattered light flew over her and red rain fell upon her. Cries of pain broke the silence of the night and the sounds of struggle reached her ears. Suzu looked up, more people were with her now, the small gap they fought in making it seem like there was more than there were.

Five newcomers were with them now. No, four, she couldn't tell. They all wore the same long black cloaks, making them indistinguishable from each other. The humans after her were dead or locked in battle with the other humans. This was a chance to escape. She gathered her last remaining strength, and crawled silently over the ground. She moved fast but carefully. Both parties were hopelessly distracted and she wasn't going to change that.

Suzu crawled across the ground. Far from the fight, the clang of metal still heard in the distance, the ground dropped into a step cliff face. Suzu peeked over its edge and saw that it dropped far down, it would have been insane to jump from this height.

A twig snapped behind her. A desperate panic filled her, stripping away all reasonable thought. She had to escape. She shoved of the ground, and lunged forward. For a brief moment she hung in space, then fell, down, down down.

A face, framed by yellow, replaced by dirty rock was the last thing she saw as she fell down. The ground was suddenly closer than what it looked like from so high up. A person shouted above her, they had jumped too. She didn't bother looking up at them the ground was right to her. She screamed and hit the ground. Dirty and leaves flew up. The ground gave way beneath her and she tumbled into darkness. Her body scraped against earth and rock as she was pulled further and further down. She broke through the earth and fell into empty air before-

Gush! Water was flooding around her as she was forced down. The strong current was forcing her deeper and deeper into its depths. She didn't even had time to think when the current suddenly changed directions, sharply turning. She was pulled up and slammed into rock. She was barely keeping her head above the water. Her good arm fumbled for a hold but the rock was too smooth. She was pulled under again, just barely having caught her breath. Her feet and hands were scrapping the smooth rock of water's floor.

It continued brutally, the current changing, her pulled up, slamming against rock. Enough time for a quick breath and back under again. She didn't know how long she could keep it up; every time she was pulled under she feared it would be the last. Just as she had given up hope of escaping the current it slowed. She gently rose up to the surface of the water, she gasped for precious air, her arms fumbling around her for land.

The current slid into a gentle curve and she was pushed onto a flat, hard surface. She crawled shyly unto the land; them fell down, passed out cold.

Suzu woke up, wondering where she was. She felt the hard rock beneath her and the gurgling sounds of running water behind her. The water was pushing on her submerged feet. She clambered forward slowly, pulling her whole self onto the flat platform. She was in some kind of underground cave river. On either side of her the cave was swallowed up into darkness. The water was clear and pure, she pulled herself forward and drank tentatively from the water that saved and nearly killed her at the same time. It tasted clean and she gulped it down, her dry mouth yearning for it.

_Run_. Thoughts of the past day's-or was it still night- events asked her. Someone was still after her.

"I'm an idiot." She said aloud, trusting that no one could hear her and finding comfort in that small fact. She was mad at herself. That she, could be overrun by fear and anxiety. She had never experienced the hunt before. Nor did she ever want to again. She stood up, testing her limbs. She was tired and her arm still bleed, the knife was gone, dislodged when she was thrown about in the current. She frowned; it would have been useful to have.

"I have to keep moving." She looked down the tunnel that the river slid into. It was dark and she didn't know what lay ahead of her, but she couldn't stay there all her life.

She sat back against the wall, letting her action-paced mind slow down; she would have to get moving again soon.

***

_"Suzu." A boy with short black hair and dark tan walked up to Her. She was reclining back in the hollow of a dead tree trunk. Its empty branches were reaching for the distant sky._

_"What Juju." She impatiently asked. _

_"Why wont you make a pact with humans? Teacher said that you'll- you'll-"_

_"Die" She finished for him. He nodded vigorously. Suzu started to pick bark off the tree._

_"Well?" Juju asked. "Why won't you."_

_"Go away." She flicked pieces of bark at him._

_"The village hates you, you know." He spat angrily. He was slowly gaining confidence to speak up,_

_"They all think you're bad news and avoid you, they say you're a plague on the village! I tried to be your friend to show them wrong but you really are a disease."_

_"You think they'll name the disease after me? With one of those technical terms and name?. Suzuidis sounds kinda cool." She said seriously, staring down at the boy. "Maybe Suzuterqouisis."_

_"Shrivel up and die!" The boy ran away. _

_"This is the best spot to watch the clouds." She continued speaking as if the boy was still there. "The best clouds are always here."_

_A bird answered her. She smiled, listening to the birds. _

_"Best bird spot too." She added, before falling asleep._

_***  
_

Suzu chuckled to herself. Her whole village wanted her dead but she wasn't ready to die yet. She was the first Inu to run away from the village, the outside world meant freedom. She hated safety; she wanted thrills. At least, she thought she wanted thrills. Dark thoughts, ghostly whispers of her fear, running through the forest like a mad animal. She shook her head. She would never go back to her village, running away was punishable by death.

She tore of a piece of her short kimono and tied it around her shoulder. It was bleeding a lot. Her blood was pooling around her, staining her gray kimono on the bottom. She plunged into the water, letting the current guide her along. She prayed silently that it stayed this smooth current and empty out into a lake or something.

She floated down for hours in the peaceful current, everything going along smoothly. There were several other flats of rock along the way. She would stop at one and catch her breath before continuing onward. She reached another flat but a strange sound filled her ears. A deep rumbling sort of sound that echoed throughout the cave. Suzu could only guess what the sound was but she didn't want to admit it. She pushed herself into the water, once more going into the unknown.

Before she had traveled so much as ten feet from the flat was she pulled violently under the water to the bottom. The current was straight and fast. No turns to fling her out for air. Her lungs burned as the current swept her along. She struggled to swim upward but she couldn't tell which way was up she fumbled about in the water, tugged along by invisible strings. Her head hit the ground and she lost what precious air she had left.

_'This is it.'_ She though, gulping water. _'I'm going to die.'_ Darkness creped outside her vision. Pitching her forward down another dark and eternal tunnel. She struggled to keep going but her body wouldn't listen. It was like back in the forest. _Run_. She thought but her legs were still.

_Live_. She thought now. _Live, dear god live!_ _I don't want to die yet, not after I had tasted freedom! Not now, not ever. Live!_

Blinding white light burned her eyes as her body was thrown out of the water into the air. Her eyes dazed by the sudden brilliance that was light. Water rushed down beside her as she fell. She crashed into more water, her feet hitting the rocky ground.

_'Kick up_' she thought, seeing the sunlight dance on the water's surface. _'You survived! Now live!'_ But she couldn't do it. The few precious gulps of air she grabbed in the free fall weren't enough. She was too exhausted. _'Live, live, live! I'm so close damn it.' _

A new thought came to her, a new desperate thought. It was a deep and ancient thought, a call from her great ancestors. The thought was powerful; it was too great to be hers. She had no choice. She called out to that deep voice deep within her.

She was no longer in the water drowning, but standing in a space between all time she started to walk forward, suspended in weightlessness. She knew exactly where she was but couldn't have known before the thought came to her. Two beings on either side of her came up and walked next to her.

She couldn't explain but knew it, she was existing in a place where no matter could exist. But she was there. On her left a white wolf, its shoulder coming up to her waist, walked with her. On her right, a brown dog, slightly smaller than the wolf, walked beside her as well.

They talked to her, but their mouths never moved. They spoke in turns, one finishing the through of the other. Like they were one being in separate bodies. They were the deep thought within her. They told her how to be free. They asked her if that is what she wanted. She gave them an answer.

Yes.

She was back in the water, but this time was different. Power burst from her and she was filled with new strength, temporary strength. She had but meager moments to escape the water and head to freedom before her power disappeared. She kicked off from the water's bottom and launched out from the water. She broke the surface and continued high into the air. Water danced around her as she flew up.

Reviling in the surge of power she howled, high and exalting. The world was hers. In the back of her mind she could hear the warning, the timer ticking off. She landed back in the water and swam to land. The sun was high above her, making her shadow self disappear. She danced in the sunlight, her power surging like the sun itself. Bright and glorious.

She turned around in circles, wondering what she could do with her power when it snapped. The power was gone. She fell to the ground, dazed at the sudden drain of energy. The sudden loss of something greater yet apart of her.

"Damn it." She cursed her stupidity. Visions of the white wolf and brown dog flashed through her mind. "They told me... it was only momentary."

"What was, un?"

Suzu gasped and jumped up, a white mass flew at her and she dodged. The mass exploded, sending her back into a tree. A man with long blond tresses walked up to her.

"Hey, un. I finally found you." He smiled crookedly, his bright blue eyes flashing. "Bit of trouble you gave me, yeah. They blamed me for losing you, un. Made me search for you, un." He grabbed her and lifted her over his shoulder. "Now don't move and be a good girl, m'kay?"

"Who... are you..." Suzu wheezed, red and yellow dancing across her eyes. A wave of nausea creeping up on her.

"Me?" He asked quickly, pausing. "I'm Deidara, yeah. Don't worry about me killing you, we want you alive, un."

"We?" She questioned vaguely.

"You'll find out eventually, hmm." He answered, holding her tight as he carried her off. She couldn't do anything, and she hated it.

She was free, then hunted, thrown into constant, life threatening danger and then was cast into the glorious light of power, only to be torn away from it. Now she was captured.

"I hate..." She started to say but couldn't; she passed out.

Deidara huffed and walked through the woods to the others.

***

Me: Well guess what, I decided to post this story! Great huh?

Other than that **review! Reviews** make me write!!


	2. Chapter 2

Me: Okay, I got one review and that's okay. I wanna write this chapter anyways, I mean its not like there's some homework I'm trying to procrastinate (Okay there really is homework I'm ignoring)

(Btw way I already finished most of my work, in case anyone was wondering, I'd somehow got my mom to help me out with it)

* * *

_"There she is..."_

_"Stay away from her"_

_"Disgrace."_

_Suzukanene ignored the whispers. She walked boldly and confidently throughout the Inu village, walking straight down the southern main road. The Inu village was a jointed village with another human one. Two villages co-existing together, both hidden from the outside world. The houses for the main Inu and human clans were in the center of the village._

_Suzu thought the village had always looked like a candy ball with filling in the middle. She would have been living in the center with the others if _they_ were still alive._

_Suzu skirted around the wall that separated main clans from the other branch families. She continued down it, occasionally tapping the wall with her fingers like it was a secret code only she knew. She stopped five houses down from the end. The house looked as if it grew out from the tall white wall. In truth it was connected to another house in the other side. As much of an outcast as Suzu was, she was still a member of the main Inu family._

_"Suzu-chan?" A gentle voice called from behind the door, a figured appearing from it. A short woman with long black hair stepped forward. "Welcome home." She smiled when she saw Suzu._

_"Good afternoon auntie Yoshida." Suzu greeted, running up to give the woman a big hug._

_"My goodness." Yoshida laughed, returning the favor. "You're getting bigger everyday. How old are you now?"_

_"Auntie!" Suzu pouted, shocked that her aunt dared to ask such a thing. "I'm seven! My birthday was just a month ago! You need to remember these things! I'm going to stop telling you soon."_

_"Forgive me, forgive me." Yoshida smiled, gently tapping her knuckles to her head. "I'm such a ditz aren't I?"_

_"You're forgiven." Suzu huffed, turning her head away. Yoshida chuckled and absentmindedly stroked Suzu's tan hair._

_"Suzukanene," She frowned. "Your hair is a mess. We need to do something about it...."_

_Suzu rolled her eyes, same old auntie. "How about you worry about dinner and I'll worry about my hair."_

_"I guess..... but-"_

_"but what! I'm hungry!" Suzu laughed freely. Smiling at her only family, her only friend._

* * *

Suzukanene work up in a pitch black room. At first she thought she was still in the underground tunnel, that the lake, the power, her capture was all some elaborate dream. She stood up but her wrists where chained to the ground. A arms length cord, bolted to the floor

"Shit." she cursed under her breath, tugging hopelessly and her bindings. "dammit."

She peered into her black surroundings, too dark to discern anything for sure but it looked like a normal room, four walls, one ceiling and one cold floor.

_'That Deidara guy brought me here.' _She thought, tugging one last time on the chains. _'He said something about others.... he couldn't be with those first humans I meet could he? No he was apart of the black cloaked group. Well what now.'_

What now, the thought played around in her head. She had no idea whatsoever. The chains were strong and she could never hope of breaking them. She couldn't even see a door in this dark room. What if the people that caught her were in here too? Watching her from the shadows. She sniffed the air. No one was in here with her.

What could she do? There was nothing for her to do, but wait and see.

She waited in that hell hole of a room for what felt like an eternity when the man with the blond hair, Deidara, walked in.

"Hey there, un." He smiled crookedly, checking if her chains were still togeather in one piece. "Glad to see you're awake, un. Leader-sama wants to talk to you yeah."

"Leader?" She questioned. Deidara didn't say anything and pulled a chain of keys from his pocket. He picked through them until he found the one he need and unlocked the chains around her wrist.

"Be a good girl and come with me, okay?" He grabbed her firmly by the wrist, dragging her up. She snarled and jerked away from him, backing up slowly into the corner.

"Tell me where I'm going first."

Deidara frowned. "You're going to see Leader-sama. He just wants to ask you a few questions yeah."

"Where am I." She could feel herself growling, her fingers curled like claws.

"Hey, hey" Deidara eased towards her, "We're not going to hurt you, we wanna help you, un." He smiled reassuringly. Suzu eyed him warily.

"I don't trust you." She said bluntly, another snarl emitting from her throat when he was getting too close. Deidara stopped and stood his ground.

"Just come with me, and everything will be clear. Leader-sama will answer all your questions. Now do you want to stay here till the end of time playing the cornered animal or do you want to get somewhere."

It was a simple question. She did not want to play the game of cornered prey but she also did not want to go with this man. She stepped back until she was pressed against the wall. She couldn't stay like this. Coming to a decision she lowered her guard. Took a shy step towards Deidara.

"Get in front of me, and don't think of dashing off, this place is already enough of a maze without all the genjutsu placed all over it." She followed his directions and he walked her out of the room and into a well lit hallway.

The walls where white and so was the ceiling, a continuous line of fluorescence lighting stretching down it on either side of her. The blue carpet was mostly clean expect for the occasional mysterious stain that tainted it in places.

"Don't mind the stains, yeah." Deidara told her. "You really don't want to know what it is, un." Suzu didn't ask and he lead her on.

* * *

"We're here, un." Deidara stopped and turned to face a empty wall. His hands moved together, shifting into different positions. Coming together then pulling apart. He did it really fast too. To end the display he slammed his palm on the wall, the wall trembled in one spot, its image wavering ,and a door appeared where one couldn't exist before.

"What..." Suzu asked, amazed.

"Genjutsu hiding the door, un." Deidara explained as he knocked on the polished wood. A ruff call came from the other side, a quick, come in, and Deidara opened the door.

A man with tall spiky orange hair and multiple piercings sat behind a mahogany desk, papers littered all around it.

"Is this the girl." He asked, slowly examining her. Deidara nodded and the man told him to leave. Deidara bowed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Take a seat." Pein gestured to a plump red chair next to the desk.

Suzu walked forward cautiously, her eyes never leaving the man as she sat down.

"I apologies for the mess, usually Konan helps me with this work but she's been out for a while." He grabbed a few papers, skimming them before tossing them into a large waste basket. "If you don't mind I'll be working on this while talking with you."

Suzu nodded slowly, unsure of what to make of this man. His bright hair and piercings didn't make him out to be the sort of person who did paper work.

"I am Pein but you will call me Leader or Leader-sama if you wish." he said quickly, tossing more papers out. "Your name."

"Inubatsu Suzukanene." She said quietly, eyeing him.

"Age." He fiddled with a paper stamp.

"Seventeen."

"Are you an Inu?"

Suzu didn't answer at first but remained silent. He looked up from the papers he just finished skimming, his eyes probing for her answer. "Yes.... I am an Inu." He nodded and turned back to the papers.

"And just what is an Inu."

Suzu wanted to give some kind of sarcastic answer to this but this guy didn't seem like the type you wanted to mess with. She wisely held her tongue. "Inu's are cursed beings, turned human."

Pein looked up, his eyes burning with questions or was it something else. She noticed his eyes first the first time. They were a series of rings. Starting out purple and slowly changing to gray in the center, each ring a different color. "Inu are humans gifted with demon abilities. Don't lie to me."

"Where did you hear that." Suzu snorted. Human's gifted with demon abilities, that's what they taught in the village. The knowledge she believed until the white wolf and brown/black dog told her the truth.

"Reliable sources within." Pein answered cryptically.

"That's a lie." Suzu started to say then hesitated. It didn't matter anymore what she said. She was no longer apart of the village. "It is a lie the humans in the village made long ago to keep us Inu from knowing the truth."

"How did you come to find this out?" Pein questioned gently, his full attention on her.

"I was always different." She whispered, "I was strong, stubborn, I had Inu powers without a pact. They, the other Inu, they were weak, submissive, like- "her face soured. "-dogs. They prostrated themselves to human rule, giving up all pride, all dignity."

"What is the real story them."

"I'm sorry Leader." She gravely smiled to herself. "I can't tell you because you're not an Inu."

Pein leaned back in his chair, a hand messaging his hair line. He sat in silence, picked up a paper and tossed it. It seemed like he had gone back to the the mountains of paper on his desk, forgetting about her. He started a new pile, stamping each paper in red ink. Suzu watched him, every move, every breath.

"We'll continue the topic later." He said, halfway through skimming a report, written in sloppy handwriting. "But I still have a few questions left for you." He didn't wait for a response. "Do you know who we are."

"Who are who?" Suzu said, confused.

"Do you know who was originally after you?"

"No... I don't."

Pein nodded. "We are Akatsuki, I am its leader, and I would like to proffer you a position."

Suzu started at him blankly, unsure what to make of all of this. Akatsuki? She had never heard of such name before.

"You are welcome to refuse but doing so will send you right into the hands of those originally after you and I can guarantee you that you would not get the same generous treatment we are giving you here. We will protect you from them."

"What's the catch." Suzu said, thinking hard about all of this. She didn't know those those other humans were but then again she didn't know these humans either.

"You offer your powers as and Inu to us."

"No way." The words left her mouth before she could stop it, but once started it was hard to quit. "I'll never make a pact with a human. Never."

"There is time to change your mind." Pein said slowly. "I will give you time to think this over. In the mean time you will stay here at our base. I can not disclose the exact location of this base nor can I let you move freely about it. You will be escorted at all times by an Akatsuki member. The only time you can be by yourself is when you are in your own personal quarters we will have arranged for you. For the moment you will have to stay in another members room."

"I haven't agreed to anything." Suzu said darkly. She had a feeling like she was about to sell her soul to a deceiving devil.

"Nor do you have to." He stood up from his desk, letting a few papers fall to the floor. "We just want you to be safe until you have reached a decision. The other group after you will not be as nice as we are."

Suzu stood up."You've said that already."

"Deidara!" Pein opened the door to the room. At once Deidara stepped in, his blue eye bright. "Take Suzukanene-san to the kitchen, get her some food and give her a tour if you wish."

Deidara bowed and gestured at Suzu to follow him. Once out of Leader's office and the door firmly shut Deidara asked really fast.

"Suzukanene, un?" He chuckled lightly. "bell, bell sound?"_(1)_

"Bell chime sound." Suzu corrected. "My drunken father named me. Apparently there was a set of chimes outside the hospital window and he named me after the sound it made."

"Sucks to be you, un." Deidara laughed walking slowly down the long hall. "So you hungry Nene-chan?"

"I'd prefer Suzu and yes." She huffed, frowning slightly at the nickname.

"Best get your food now Nene-chan before Kisame eats everything."

Suzu again frowned at the nickname but her curiosity over came her frustration. "Kisame?"

"Another member yeah." Deidara made a turn down a new hall. "You'll be meeting everyone eventually and I'll warn you now, Akatsuki isn't.... well we aren't the most normal looking cookies in the box. We're the freaky rare ones you find."

Suzu was dumbstruck for a moment. Did he just compare himself to a cookie?

* * *

Suzu sat on the roof of her house, staring up at the night sky. Her back resting on the white wall. On the other side she could hear the celebrations going on. It was the night of the Tanabata festival_(2)_. She stared at the slip of paper. Its virgin whiteness waiting to grant her wish.

She stood up, her head barely coming up to the top of the wall, she looked over at the bright lantern lights, strung up between the many buildings. People, Inu and human alike dressed in bright decorative kimonos and yukatas danced around or eating celebration food. The smell of the sweet festival cakes wafted to her nose.

The young girls danced with the young boys around a bonfire that retched its fiery hands to the very starts themselves. She lifted her paper slip high into the air, watching the wind play with it. The paper flirted around her hand and fingers. She let it go, the thin material fluttering in the wind, dropping down the spinning back up. It flew in graceful arcs all the way to the fire where the hungry red and orange consumed it.

"Suzu?" Yoshida's head appearing in the trap hole. "There you are, I finished the festival cakes."

"I don't want any." Suzu turned away from the bright festivities. "I'm going to bed."

"Suzu, you shouldn't feel bad. We'll can still celebrate with the branch families." Yoshida said but the woman knew it was no good. Suzu didn't feel better from the words.

"They hate me." She sunk down, her head propped up on her knees. "They want me dead."

"Don't listen to them." Yoshida wrapped Suzu in her arms, stroking the young girls hair soothingly. "They don't understand you."

"I hate them." Suzu admitted. "One day I'll be free from them. Be free from everything."

"Then make a wish." Yoshida whispered to her. " Make a wish. For this is a night wishes come true. A night that makes the impossible possible."

Suzu said nothing but cuddled closer to her aunts warm embrace. She couldn't make that wish. She threw away her slip. Her wish was gone, gone by the burning fire that roared into the night, devouring the sky.

* * *

Suzu sat on the couch, eating quietly from a box of cookies. The Akatsuki kitchen was surprising full, but lacking in anything worthy of being called edible much less food. Deidara mumbled things about a man called Kakuzu. Saying quite a few choice curse words and something about being a money whore.

Suzu reached in the box and pulled out a oddly shaped cookie. One that had a strange mutation coming off it, it looked like Deidara's ponytail. She called to Deidara sitting on the opposite end and threw the cookie at him. He caught it and looked at her.

"You're cookie." She said to him, he looked at the cookie again and laughed.

"I thought I' had embarrassed myself with that horrible comparison but I was spot on, yeah." He bit into the cookie.

"What's the tour Leader talked about?" Suzu closed the box, having enough of the sweet sugar cookies. Deidara looked up at the clock and shrugged.

"I guess I could give you a quick tour, but Sasori should be back soon. Sasori is my partner." He thought for a moment. "He'll be fine, let's go."

They hoped off the couch and Deidara walked her around, explaining a few things about the halls and doors, like the fact that most of them were fake, elaborate illusions set up by another member, Itachi, Deidara said his name was.

He told her a few tricks to remembering everything. He lead her down a hall that had everyone's rooms. Then he took her down a few more halls to a open room, void of any furniture and all white. Deidara told her they used it for training. He lead her to leaders office and took her past that to a stairwell that whent up to the surface to another training area. He concluded the tour by going down another hall that opened up into a wide room with a vertical staircase at the far end of it right across of them.

As they entered a redheaded male stepped of the stairs and approached them.

"Hey Sasori-no-danna." Deidara greeted the red head nonchalantly. The redhead nodded and looked at Suzu curiously. "Suzukanene" He jerked his head at her, rubbing the top of her head playfully. "Or Nene-chan as I call her."

"I said not to call me that!" Suzu pushed back at him, growling.

"Is she one of us?" Sasori asked Deidara. The blond shook his head.

"What dose he mean, one of you." Suzu turned to Deidara.

Deidara laughed nervously, "Whats with all the question's jeez." He smacked Suzu on the back, laughing all the while. Suzu wanted to ask more but Sasori had already called the blond to talk with him privately. Leaving Suzu out of the equation.

When the two males came back Deidara looked rather grumpy and excused himself, leaving Suzu alone with Sasori. Sasori made her follow him back to the living room. Suzu liked Sasori. He didn't reek of that smell humans had. He smelled earthy, like wood.

Time passed by slowly, Sasori working on some sort of doll or puppet and she occupied herself with a incredibly old magazine she excavated from the bottom of the couch cushion. She was just reading an obsolete science article when Pein walked into the room, dressed in black.

"I'm going to take you to Konan's room, you will be sharing with her."

Suzu followed him, silently testing herself along the way of which halls where real and which ones were fake. He walked her to the end of a hall and stopped before a light gray painted door. He opened it for her and said hurriedly. "You can use the clothes in the bottom drawer of the dresser. They were bought for you to wear. If they don't fit then make do for now." he closed the door, his muffled footsteps fading away.

Suzu examined the room, it clearly belonged to a female. The room was a pale lavender, two oblong windows on the ceiling, let in soft moonlight. The bed was a lofty queen size with purple sheets. White origami flowers decorated the top of it. Suzu picked up a flower examining it . It was beautifully made, almost real looking. She sniffed it, imagining the wonderful smell it could have.

She fell asleep that night, dreaming of a field of paper flowers. A world set under the soft light of the moon.

* * *

(1)Deidara is referring to Suzu's name. _Suzu_ means bell and _Kane_ means Chime but can also mean bell and _ne_ means sound.

(2)Tanabata festival is a festival on the 7th of June or August. It celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The celebration is held at night, once the stars come out.

(3)

Me: I'm really happy with this chapter and this story. But know what would make me even more happier?? A beta reader would. Thats what.

Now **reviews** would make me feel even better than all that other junk. **Review** please!!!


	3. Chapter 3

Me: Whoo! Chapter three and only two reviews! Whats the deal people?? I know you're reading the story. I see how many hits I'm getting. I know you're reading this story.... but more on that later. Enjoy.

Chapter 3

* * *

_Three bells rang._

_Three chiming bells rang throughout the village. Its light notes ringing pure and light like the first snowfall. Shows of ecstasy and mirth collided with the clear, deep ringing. Men howled or threw their straw hats high into the air. Woman embraced each other in excitement, gossiping amongst each other like a cluster of song birds._

_Within the walls of village, the walls that separated the outer branches from the main clan. In the hospital reserved for the pure families, a wailing is heard. Outside the village celebrates but within that inner wall there was deathly silence. _

_The chiming bells stopped, a new, somber bell filling the air. _

_Four rings._

_The village stilled, frolicking children where hushed by their parents. Whispers were passed, worries shared. _

_"I'm sorry Hayato-dono." A doctor hung his head in shame. "The child is healthy but your wife..." The man paused, trying to find the right words. There were no right words. For no word could capture what happened in that room. The new life gained, the one lost. "Your wife has passed."_

_Hayato paled, he fingers digging deep into his sandy blond hair. He ran into the room, shoving the stunned doctor aside. He saw the nurse, a young babe wailing in her arms. He turned to the bed, the face he most dearly wanted to see covered by a pale white sheet. His hand hovered over her face. He wanted to throw aside the sheet. Tosee his wife smiling up at him again. Smiling and alive._

_"Hayato-dono." The nurse stood by him, shifting the babe in her arms. " You're child..."_

_Hayato stared wordlessly at the child before him. The baby cried and cried, unknowing the tragedy that has occurred. Hayato hated that child. He hated her because she cried for all the wrong reasons. He took the baby from the nurse's arms._

_The bells were ringing again, three for new life, four for death. The sounds merged together, it's haunting tune carried all throughout the still city. Light, hearty tones challenged by dark, low ones. Hope converging with despair. _

_"Suzukanene." Hayato said quietly. The nurse stared at him_

_"What was that lord?"_

_Hayato walked to the window, holding his child out for the world to see. "Suzukanene. That is what I will name her."_

_The nurse nodded and wrote the name down on her sheet. Hayato starred down at his child, sleeping peacefully in his arms. He wished his child would start crying again. That his child would cry for the loss of her mother, and his wife._

_Hayato couldn't cry, but his child would._

_***  
_

Suzu woke up with a weird feeling in the back of her mouth. She turned around in the soft bed, a paper rose resting right near her face. A feeling surged up within her, dying away before she could grasp it. She laid there, her mind not able to understand what had happened.

Suzu picked up the rose, holding the fragile bloom close to her. A lingering feeling, the metallic taste of blood was in her mouth. She furrowed her brows together. What was this?

"I need new clothes." Suzu said absentmindedly, forgetting about the feeling. She walked over to the dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer. Pein told her that all the clothes in it were for her use. She pulled out a pair of black pants and black tank top with thin straps. The gray short kimono she wore was bloodstained and tattered from her run through the forest.

She shed away the dingy thing and stood in her undergarments. There were a few pairs of underwear and bras in the drawer as well. She pulled some out but the underwear was too small, as with the bras. Suzu frowned; she hoped the clothes weren't too small for her as well.

The pants reached down just below her knees and fitted her rather comfortably except the waist was a tad bit wide. Making the pants sit lopsided on her waist. The tank top was way to big for her, her breasts almost entirely exposed. She quickly searched through the drawer once more and found a large black T-shirt. She pulled it over the tank and studied herself in the mirror on the back of the door. The T-shirt was almost like a dress on her and hid the sliding pants well. She moved on to her next problem, studying herself in the mirror.

Her hair was an utter mess. Dirt lined her sandy tanned face; dark lines were forming under her eyes. At least she had decent clothes.

Frumpy. That would definitely be the thing her aunt would say if she saw her now. Suzu smiled to her reflection. She missed her aunt but the woman would be better off without her hindering the poor woman.

Content with her ragged and 'frumpy' appearance Suzu stood awkwardly at the door. Pein told her she wasn't allowed to go anywhere without an Akatsuki member to escort her but when would they come for her?

She looked shyly about the room. She just woke up and couldn't go back to asleep again, and she didn't want to mess with the things in the room. She never met the woman who owned this room and she did not want to be impolite.

But that door... was it locked? The question burned with in her. She stared long and hard at the door, the mirror reflecting her intent gaze. It wouldn't hurt to test and see, maybe the Akatsuki were waiting outside the door for her, waiting for her to come out.

Her fingers curled around the polished knob. The door opened with ease. Her head jerked out into the hallway, looking down both ends. No one in sight.

_'Maybe they're waiting down the hall?'_ She thought hurriedly, excitement building up within her. Pein wouldn't be too mad if she went off for a bit on her own. What harm would it do anyways? She'll be back before anyone came to get her anyways.

She stepped out into the hall, forgetting to close the door in her excitement. This was a chance to explore. She ventured down the hall, Deidara's little tricks for getting around buzzing in her head. She hasn't been in this part of the base before and wasn't sure if his tricks still applied.

She learned that she could tell the fake, illusion hallways and doors by smelling them. If she could smell the scent of humans then it was real, but if she only smelled paint then it was fake.

The wild and crazy events of the past days were coming to a quiet halt and Suzu found she could think more clearly. The fear that made her heart stop was gone and the uncertainty of leaving the village had all but left. She was free now.

Suzu sniffed a hallway; paint, the hall was fake. She kept going straight, a new smell turning in the air. A sweet pungent smell, the smell of flowers.

A chill ran down her spine. Her mind flickered, like an old light bulb was working to turn on but only flickered meekly in the back of her mind. Strange flashes of pictures and words bubbled to the top of her conscious.

The feeling from this morning came back to her. She stepped hesitantly down the hall, coming closer to the smell. A small voice in her head told her to run, told her that something scary awaited her. Another voice, louder, more confident told her to walk forward. It told her it must be known. It told her she must find her anger.

Suzu stopped before a plain wall. The smell was coming from it. Her hands patted up and down the flat surface until she felt it, a small unseen indent in the wall. She tugged and the door slid neatly to the side, a new world of green opened to her.

***

_"Father" Suzukanene, age five, stared up at the man, anyone could tell she clearly took after him. The same sandy brown hair, the same bright gray eyes. "Why must I do this?"_

_"Because I said so." Her father roughly replied, forcing her forward into the hair shop. When they came out again Suzu had long black small fingers played with the tips. She didn't like the change. She wanted her old hair back.  
_

_The small girl started crying but her father didn't notice. He was whispering quietly to himself. Lost in his own world. Suzu cried louder, trying to get the attention of her father. When her consistent wailing started drawing attention for others her father bent down and smacked her across the face. _

_"Shut up" He growled, the purple lines under his eyes giving him a haunted look. "Be quiet and follow me. We're going to go see mommy."_

_The girl sniffed back her tears. She didn't like it when they went to see mommy. Mommy scared her. Daddy took her to see mommy once a week. She would always dread the day. Father acted... different on those days. He would say scary things, whisper dark words whose meaning was lost to her. He forced her down the familiar path that lead her to the familiar place._

_The flower field. _

_***  
_

Bright light came down upon her like a sheet of ethereal rain. The ceiling was entirely glass, level with the ground above. Creeping vines crisscrossed along the glass, the light filtering through its leaves sending out streaks of green. Plants were everywhere, all of them in pots or tanks. Small trees and bushes were laid out before her like an unruly jungle. She walked forward carefully, Thick roots and vines wrapped around the floor, concrete peeking through their gaps.

"Wow." Suzu admired the green jungle around her. All the plants were new to her; most had large leaves, larger than her head and torso. Some had vibrant flowers or colorful streaks on their foilage. The air was extremely moist and she could feel drops of water falling on her.

She ventured forward, touching the new plants around her. She pushed aside a bulb plant crossing the path. It had a huge green head on the end of its thick stem. The plant fell back behind her as she kept walking down a winding path set between the flowers.

Leaves shuffled behind her and she snapped back around, peering down the path she just walked. The damp air made it harder for her to smell but she couldn't small anyone. Only the airy smell of the flowers. Suzu turned back and around continued walking.

The jungle of plants thinned out and she was standing before a field of flowers. A raised platform, three feet tall and expanding the length of the remaining room sat before her. Flowers, the whole platform filled with flowers sat there, beckoning her.

A strong voice urged her one, a quiet voice in the back of her head told her to stay away. The stronger voice barked and the quiet voice hid, scared.

In a daze Suzu pulled herself up onto the platform, her body no longer her own. Her mind was fixated on a smell that lingered in the air, a smell more clear and sweet then the others. She took another step forward when she tripped.

She yelped and forced her hands out in front of her, her palms hitting the ground roughly. She stared at the flowers crushed beneath her. Shaking she stood up when a thick, slimy rope circled around her ankle. She screeched when the rope tugged and dragged her forcefully backwards. Fingers clawed the ground and pulled up flowers, seeking any thing she could get a grasp onto. Her feet collided with the side of the platform and yanked over it. Pain erupted in her stomach in head as she was dragged over the wood.

She twisted around on to her back and gasped. It was a vine; a vine had tangled itself around her ankle and was dragging her back into the jungle of plants. More vines clamped onto her, their slick bindings twisting around her.

The angry voice in her head barked, the brown dog snarled.

Suzu buried her head in her arms; pots came dangerously close to colliding with her as she slid across the bumpy floor.

Her hand reached out and grabbed a still vine. The vines jerked her hard and she almost let go. She twisted her hand around the vine, her knuckles squeezing tight around the plant. The vines tightened and a sick game of tug-a-war started. Joints came out of their sockets and her body stretched the limit. Her grip slipped.

She was flung forward and landed at the base of the bulb plant. Its plant like head hanging suspended a foot above her. She yanked on her vine bindings; the plants strangely lose. Struggling with a twisted vine around her wrist she stiffened. The air was turning wildly about her. She sniffed the air and the smell of rotting flesh overcame her.

Her stomach turned and vile rose up in her throat. A strong force slammed into her head, sending her forward across the ground. She crawled up onto her back looking above wildly for her attacker. She turned and saw the giant plant head, wriggling.

The plant quivered, its green head rising up. Slowly its tip split apart into four different sections. Each section peeling back, reviling a straight line of sharp teeth. The toothed plant faced down towards her, like an efflorescent predator.

She screamed and bolted, vines wrapped around her again, dragging her to the waiting plant. The plant lashed out, its teeth driving deep into her shoulder. She cried out in pain, violet ooze leaked from the white teeth and into her shoulder. Her body clenched in pain.

Vines enclosed around her, warping around her body like a spiders' web. She screamed frantically, trying to get to anyone's attention. She wished she wasn't so stupid as to explore on her own. She wished-

Vines wrapped around her face. The plant bit deeper into her skin, pulling out a chuck of her flesh.

_'Bite, back!' _The brown dog growled at her. '_Fight, everything depends on you. You die and our race dies.'_

"I know." She whispered. "I know."

The strangling vines started to loosen, giving up their hold on her. She wriggled free from them, her breaths in ragged pants. Wet, sticky blood flowed freely down her arm, she knew she had to stop it but her body was growing numb. She started to feel disoriented, confused. What was she doing?

"Who's in here?" A dark voice called. Suzu's head lifted shyly into the air. She sniffed, the smell slowly registering to her. It smelled earthy and human. Fear sized her when the voice called out again. Some one else was in the room and they knew she was there too.

She staggered to her feet, swaying dangerously like a drunken man. In a tottering gait she ran back to the platform, she could find sanctuary amongst the painted flowers. The voice called out again, a new voice arguing with it. She kept going, her fear driving her.

She vaguely remembered Deidara talking about other members. He called them the odd cookies in the box. She wondered just how odd the Akatsuki really was. She wondered if Deidara's vague analogy really did any justice.

She heaved up onto the platform, her shoulder sending waves of pain down her body. She didn't feel it; her mind was boggy. Her body was stiff and unyielding. The only thing pushing her was the brown dogs' mad barking. The dog urged her forward. She kept going forward.

She was in the center of the platform and she could go no farther. She lost all sense of smell, all sense of time. The afternoon light fluttered across her skin. She turned her head and saw a flower. It was white with two distinct pedals. One larger pedal standing taller than the other before curling back. The other curling in the other way.

Moon wisp.

The name came to her, along with the searing memory. Inside her head the brown dog grinned. The searing memory exploded in her head.

The black hair, the laughter, the knife, the blood, the ritual.

Pain, she felt immeasurable pain, she howled in anger, the madness of the pain driving her insane.

Suzu registered something wrapped around her arm; she twisted and bit what was holding her. A howl of pain came from the earthy man. Sweet blood oozed into her mouth, she relished in the taste of it. And wanted more. The madness was consuming her, she wanted to rip apart the man locked in her jaws. She wanted to kill.

The man hit her across the head, her jaws clenched harder. He kept hitting her, screaming for her to let go. Her instincts were taking over her, wild instincts deep within her raging forth, crashing throughout her like a flood of power.

The man groped her injured shoulder, scratching around the teething wound. She cried out, her jaws releasing its prey. The man slapped her across her face. Shock brought her scenes back and the haze clouding her mind.

Her anger, the memory, everything started to slip away. She collapsed on the ground, her mind flickering out into nothingness. The brown dog was angry, angry because she wasn't angry. _He_ was angry too, her mind trickled away, who was he? He was important but now he was gone. He did something to her, something unforgivable.

***

"Zetsu!" Deidara walked into the plant mans greenhouse. Zetsu looked over at the blond, his black side furious.

"Why weren't you watching her like Leader told you." He scowled.

"I had to use the bathroom, un!" Deidara cried exasperated, pulling on his hair. "Sasori-danna scolding me is enough thank you! Yeah it was my fault she wondered off on her own but you should have looked to door to your room!"

"A genjutsu was hiding it." Zetsu's white side added. "There's no way she could have seen through it."

Deidara was at a loss, it was bad enough EVERYONE was blaming him for Suzu's disappearance but the also expected him to know EVERY little thing about the girl as well. "How was I supposed to know she can see through genjutsu.... just yesterday she didn't know what a genjutsu was! How was I supposed.... she never could have." Deidara shook his head, pacing in tight circles. "I only taught her little tricks to the genjutsu in the halls." He added quietly to his self.

"You taught her what?" Black and white Zetsu said together. One was angry, the other taken back. "Are you and idiot?" Black resorted scathingly. "What were you thinking?!"

Deidara shrugged, what else could he do? Lie? Zetsu could see through lies, the grass nin always could. "Just in case, yeah. If she ever got separated from one of us, so she wouldn't get really lost."

"You're a freaking S-rank criminal ninja! Wanted in seven countries and is on the kill-on-sight list in five of those! I think you are capable of keeping track of one simple girl!"

"What if-"

"There are no what ifs Deidara." Pein walked into the room, eyes burning with rage. Deidara shrank back from their leader. He hung his head, staring at his feet. Pein glared at him then turned to Zetsu. "Did anything happen to her?"

"She was bitten by a poisonous, carnivorous plant." Zetsu explained. "Its poison contains a mild sedative."

"It wears off right?" Pein questioned. Zetsu nodded.

"After a few hours yeah but it's the after affect that kicks in after it wears off that could be troublesome."

"Troublesome?"

"It gives the victim temporary amnesia."

Pein swore. "Great, just freaking great. We need the information she has on her village. The Haze ninja have been acting up, they know something we don't and Suzukanene is our key to finding out what!" Pein took several hasty steps away from them, turning his back to them. "Deidara if your skills weren't useful to me I would have killed you just now."

Deidara paled, uncomfortable at how close he had come to an early death. Pein growled under his breath.

"How is she right now?" He questioned quietly, taking deep, slow breaths.

"Missing a good chunk of her shoulder but Konan is tending to her right now. She should be able to fix her right up." Zetsu's white side said cheerfully. "Though the injured shoulder saved me some trouble."

"Explain." Pein's interest was stirred.

"When I came in I could see the vines wriggling around and I new some unfortunate soul had wondered in here. So I got closer and found her in my flowers. She looked pretty banged up so I grabbed her but all of a sudden she went raving mad and bit me."

"She did what?" Deidara asked, shocked.

"She bit me!" Zetsu repeated. "The little bitch." His black side added. "Every time I hit her to knock her off she bit harder! So I grabbed onto her shoulder and I guess it stunned her for she let go. She had this crazed, feral look in her eyes. I wasn't sure what to do so I slapped her. That seemed to knock some sense in her and she passed out."

Pein quietly regarded everything for a moment. Finally he said, "Deidara, you are no longer in charge of Suzukanene. Sasori will watch her until Itachi and Kisame get back from their mission and they'll take over from there. Lock your door next time Zetsu." Pein waved them off and left.

The two Akatsuki stood awkwardly in the room. Deidara mumbled some half-baked excuse about a sculpture he was working on and left. Out side in the hall he ran into Sasori.

"Deidara." Sasori greeted coldly. Pein had told him his new job.

"I'm in no mood for your scolding." Deidara stepped around his partner. Sasori gladly ignored him, if Deidara wanted to be pissy then the blond was pissy. Truthfully he hated Deidara even more when he was mad. He had this annoying habit of mumbling furiously while mindlessly blowing things up.

Sasori walked through the base to the medical ward where Konan was inside watching over Suzu dutifully. The woman nodded to him and stared down at Suzu sleeping peacefully beside her. Sasori asked her about the girl and Konan closed her eyes before answering.

"Her shoulder will be fine, through I healed the muscles, the bones and tissue I couldn't fully heal the skin. Its such a shame for one so young as her to get a scar like that." The woman's fingers ghosted over the bandaged shoulder. Sasori stared at Konan intently.

"You seem happier." He commented dryly. A smiled tugged on Konan's lips.

"I wont be the only female anymore." She said quietly. "I was just thinking it would be nice, to have someone to do girl things with."

Sasori stayed quiet. It was no secret Konan wished for female company, living with nine other filthy men for years was taking its toll on her. An idea came to him and he quickly shared it with Konan.

"Me?" She said, shocked. "Be in charge of Suzu? But I can't. I have to help Pein.

"At least until Itachi and Kisame come back." Sasori said. "I would rather not be in charge of her, I have enough troubles dealing with Deidara. What do I need with some teenage girl? She could bond with you."

"I don't know..." Konan admitted doubtfully. "But I guess...." She added, sounding more hopeful. " I can ask Pein. He might agree to it. I could tell him it might increase our chances of her choosing to join us."

"I can ask for you." Sasori offered but Konan shook her head.

"I'll do it." She stood up. "I'll go do it now. Suzu is stable but if you could watch her just to be sure..."

"I'll do it." Sasori closed his eyes; it wasn't like he had anything better to do. Konan smiled and thanked the puppet master. She left silently, making as little noise as possible.

Sasori took Konan's seat and watched the second hand move around the clock. He started thinking on a new design for a puppet when Suzu stirred in the bed beside him. He watched her as she sat up, looking around in confusion. She looked at him with big innocent eyes.

"Who..." The words left her mouth.

"Sasori." He reminded her.

"... Sasori..." The girl repeated. "Is that... my name?"

Something was wrong; Sasori examined her more closely. "No," he corrected. "It is my name."

She stared. "Then what is my name? Who am I?"

Sasori knew something was wrong indeed.

* * *

Me: Hehe, the story is getting interesting is it not? I hated this chapter at first but when I did my look through it I was actually really okay with it.

**Review! Review!** Please, oh please **review**! No **review** no new chapter!!!


	4. Chapter 4

Me: I didn't say it last chapter but I will say it now. I have a beta for this story! Isn't it great? Her name is Demoness Drakon so be nice and say nice things about her beta-ing.

Also I would like to send out a quick call out to Dark Angel of Pain and Chaos. Truthfully I never noticed the thing about (almost) all of my OCs having abused pasts. Part of that has to do with the fact that I'm an OC dictator. If some fictional character isn't suffering in some way shape or form then I ain't happy. The other fact has to do with I like the conflict it gives. I'm not going to say much more because it'll spoil the story but you catch my drift.

Here's chapter four! Enjoy!

***

Chapter 4

***

Sasori knocked on Leaders door, the genjutsu not fazing him. Pein irritably called to him from within and Sasori opened the door. Shuffling to Leader's desk. Konan started at him her eyes reflecting a deep worry.

"Leader-sama, Suzu has-"

"Lost her memory." Leader finished sighing. "I was hoping it wouldn't be the case."

"What happened." Sasori asked. Pein nodded to Konan, silently signaling the woman to listen as well. He filled them in on the events that had occurred earlier that day. He told them about the plant that poisoned Suzu. Konan growled, muttering aloud a tempting though of burning Zetsu's crazy plants.

Sasori understood now. "I see, so what do you want to do about it?"

"For now..." Pein stood up, staring at the two of them, "Nothing. Zetsu said it was temporary so we wait it out."

"Pein." Konan stepped forward, "About what we were talking about earlier... about me..."

"I will let you watch over Suzu." Pein answered. "But Sasori..."

Sasori stood stiff, only guessing at what Leader-sama was going to make him do.

"I want to you watch Deidara for awhile, make sure he doesn't make an even mess of all this."

Sasori nodded but inside he was cursing Deidara. Why was he the babysitter? Sasori bowed and let the room. Konan smiled and couldn't hold back her laugh.

"Finally...a girl I can talk and spend time with." Her mind boggled at all the possibilities. When was the last time she had decent female company? "Gosh." She admitted, her face blushing. "I can't even remember..."

"Don't get too excited." Pein warned. "She still hasn't agreed to join us, and if she denies us..."

Konan nodded gravely. "I understand, but I-" She stopped; she was just making a fool of herself. Getting so excited over this. She couldn't help it. This was a rare opportunity for her that she could never get again. "Pein, can I...."

"Can you what?" Pein said monotonously. Though he didn't act it he was smiling on the inside at Konan. The woman was so happy.

"Can I take her to town? T-to get her proper clothes of course." She added quickly. Pein smirked before retaining his hard poker face.

"I don't see why not." Beside him Konan's face lit up. "Just be careful, the town may have good connections with us but you never know." The woman thanked him profusely and ran out of the room. Pein shook his head and plopped down into his chair. He had a feeling he was going to be stuck doing all the paper work.

***

"Hello." Konan warmly smiled at the teenage girl sitting quietly in her bed. Suzu looked up and cocked her head to the side, her eye browns kited together in deep thought.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I don't remember your name."

"We haven't meet before." Konan explained. "I am Konan. Pleased to meet you." She sat down at the edge of Suzu's bed. The girl nodded and smiled back at her.

"I'm Suzu-ah.... um....I'm-"

"Suzukanene right?"

Suzu nodded. "Suzukanene." She repeated looking away.

"Well Suzu, would you like to go out with me?"

***

"Where are we going again?" Suzu questioned as she and Konan walked down the dirt road.

"Idaki village." Konan pointed far down the road. In the hazy distance a small village sat nestled between a mountain and a wide river with forests around the perimeter of it. "They have an agreement with Akatsuki. We protect them and in return they give us food and information they have gathered. Being along a major trade route lets them hear things from all over the world."

"I see." Suzu stared at the small town. It was quaint human village.

"It is a nice day." Konan looked up at the sky cheerfully. Suzu followed the woman's gaze and asked what was so nice about such an over cast day. The gray clouds put everything under a dull cover. "It usually rains everyday here." Konan explained. "Sometimes for weeks on end. It's not often it's nice enough out for us to go to the village."

They walked in comfortable silence. It would take them about an hour to reach the village. Suzu didn't mind walking the whole way in silence but a question was picking at Konan like a torn in the rear.

"Suzukanene." She said quietly, Suzu looked at her confused. "What do you remember?"

"Wh-what?" Suzu staggered back, shocked. "I... um.... n-nothing. I-I don't remember anything."

Konan nodded, looking content with Suzu's answer. She noted the way Suzu's eyes were looking as she spoke. The woman smiled to herself. "I hope you remember soon." She said encouragingly.

"Y-yeah..." Suzu found the ground very interesting that moment.

They reached the village in silence, Konan planning their day and Suzu in her own world. Two men guarding the gate bowed to Konan, letting the woman and girl pass.

"Odd." Konan said as they entered the village. Her mature features troubled.

"What is?" Suzu asked curiously.

"I've never seen those men before." Konan sneaked a glance back; the two men were watching them walk down the road. "Everyone in the village knows us Akatsuki, but only when we are wearing our cloaks."

Suzu nodded, Konan was wearing a thin tank top and knee length pants. They both looked like average shinobi, or at least Konan said they did.

"We must be careful." Konan warned, her face softening for a moment. "Oh poo." She sighed, walking off the road to look into a store window, antique dolls, their smiling faces and black eyes stared back at them. "I'm being paranoid. Forget what I said Suzu. Let's just have a good time, hmm?"

Suzu nodded and Konan told her about a new chic restaurant that Suzu instantly agreed to go to.

"I've always wanted to come here." Konan admitted as they sat down at their table by the window. People walked past them, all working hard on this rare, dry day. "Though the guys would never come here with me, too girly." Suzu laughed, the whole restaurant was clearly designed towards women, its pink decor and vast array of pastries evidence to that fact. "And I would never come here alone. It's a bit embarrassing if you ask me."

"I wouldn't." Suzu agreed, thinking. "I've never been to a restaurant either."

"This is good then." Koman smiled, her eyes lighting up as the pair sat down at a table. "I'm so glad you got your memory back then." The blue haired woman said confidently, laughter in her words. Suzu jumped in her seat.

"As far as I can remember!" She said quickly, but too late. Suzu buried her face in her hands, cursing her own stupidity. "How long have you known...." the girl whispered.

"How long have I known what?" Konan lifted Suzu's head, looking the girl straight in the eye, laughter playing in her blue eyes.

"That I've been lying..." Said the girl embarrassed. "About my memory..." Suzu was interrupted by a server coming over.

"Hello, my name is Kaida, and I'm your server for today. What would you like to order?" Both women put in their requests for various desserts before the waiter flounced off to go get it. Suzu looked down in embarrassment once the waiter was out of hearing distance.

"Suzukanene." Konan's eyes soften, the woman grabbing the girl's hand. "Why did you lie about it?"

"I didn't want to remember...." Suzu cried, tears coming to her eyes. "I remembered something... I should have forgotten."

"What happ-"

The waiter walked up, carrying two trays in her hands. "Here is your order." He smiled at them. Placing their deserts down on the table. Suzu took her fork and played with the cheesecake, mashing it around.

"Suzukanene-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Suzu said absentmindedly. Konan nodded sharply, saddened. She had hoped that she and Suzu could bond but the girl was too stubborn, unwilling to open up to her. Konan thought about telling Suzu about the Haze ninja. What their after, what they could to do her and her village. The danger.

_'No....' _Konan looked around the shop, at the groups of chattering friends or couples. '_It's too dangerous to talk about that here.... I'll tell her when we get back to the base.' _Konan took a bite of her cobbler, wondering what they'll do next.

They finished their meal in silence, Suzu not touching her food. They left to pay for their food but their waiter said it was on the house. Konan thanked him and lead Suzu out of the shop, the girl withdrawn into herself.

"Let's get you some clothes." Konan said brightly, "I know a good shop we can go to." Konan and Suzu entered the small shop, the latests teen and woman trends displayed on store maniquins. "I wanted to buy you proper clothes" Konan was desperate to get the girl talking again. "But Kakuzu wouldn't let me. He said it was a waste of money since I didn't know your size. He told me to give you other member's old clothes. Though in hindsight-" Konan grabbed a cute top of its hanger and held it up to Suzu for comparison, only to throw it out. "it was smarter, so I ending up giving you Deidara's pants and Kisame's shirt. I think I also threw in one of Itachi's torn tanks that I had to sew new straps onto. Ah... I'm rambling aren't I?" Konan laughed, but to her dismay Suzu only stared at her feet.

"I'm only trying to help you." Konan said flustered at the girl's stubbornness. "You could at least say something. You're like Itachi only he gives a "Hn" at least." When Suzu said nothing Konan tried to grab the girl but Suzu shoved her away.

"I don't want to talk." Suzu said coldly, scowling at the new top Konan was putting up to her.

"Fine." The woman pouted.

The comfortable silence they shared before was gone. Konan's patience was wearing thin and Suzu refused to give the woman any slack. After several strained minutes Konan gave Suzu a pile of clothes to try on and pushed the girl into the changing room.

"I want to see every outfit you try on" Konan said through the door before plopping herself down on a chair. She yawned, suddenly tired. " It wouldn't hurt to rest for a bit." She said quietly, already falling asleep.

A skinny woman sharing the store with them turned her head when she saw Konan fall asleep; she walked out the store, putting bright red lipstick on her face. Two men across the street saw the signal and walked into the store, one knocking out the owner and the other heading to the dressing room. Tearing open the door Suzu was behind.

Suzu jumped, scared at the hostile intrusion. "Who are-" she screamed. "What are you!" The man punched her square in the jaw, stunning her.

"You should have eaten your cake." The man said before picking her up and throwing her over his shoulders. He nodded to his comrade and they walked out the store back door.

"Help..." Suzu muttered weakly. Her shock wearing off. "...Help."

"It's no use." The man told her, his comrade wrapping a white cloth around his face. On the forehead was attached a metal place. On it a slanted question mark.

"Who..." Suzu growled, anger welling up within her. The memory she strived to forget, the fire of her rage.

"It does not matter." The other man said quickly, punching her in the head. Suzu screamed and kicked and punched. Her foot landed in the man's stomach. He collapsed below her and she lunched herself at his comrade. Clawing at the man's eyes. His friend recovered and kicked Suzu in the back. The girl screamed and curled up on the ground.

_'Bite.'_ The brown dog growled at her.

"STOP IT!" Suzu screamed. Flailing about madly on the ground. The men jumped on her, struggling her limbs into submission. One pulled out a rope and bound her limbs. He slapped her harshly.

"Listen bitch." He growled, his hand squeezing around Suzu's chin. "You will obey us or we will kill you."

"No!" She twisted and turned, kicking, punching. Doing whatever she could to get away. The man hit her again, the other pounding his foot into her stomach. "...no!..." Suzu coughed, struggling to regain her breath. The men forced her to her feet and dragged her off.

"Tie her mouth." The man said to his partner. His comrade pulled out a cloth gag when blood gushed from his chest. Seconds past before Suzu understood what happened. The man was dead. His partner had let go of her and ran. She heard his screams of pain moments later.

"Amateurs." Konan walked up to her, cutting her bindings.

"Konan..." Suzu didn't understand. Why did Konan save her?

"I'm sorry I didn't come to you sooner." Konan held on to the girl, helping her back to the store. "Their third wheel tried to kill me. I had them fooled though. Did they honestly think they could poison me? Next time they'll send someone more competent. We got lucky." All laughter was gone from the woman's eyes.

"Let me go." Suzu tried to break away from the woman's grasp. Konan let her go, following behind the girl back into the store.

"Suzukanene... I"

"I don't care!" Suzu shouted, tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't care about stupid humans! I hate humans!"

"What happened Suzu!" The woman grabbed at the girl but Suzu snarled at her. Konan jumped back, scared. "Please Suzu..."

"No! I hate you!" Suzu dashed forward, barging through the stores glass front door.

Konan cried out and followed after her. Suzu ran into the forest, running at a haphazard pace. Konan stopped at the town's edge, panting. She had to follow after Suzu. There could be more Haze ninja, but she couldn't capture Suzu on her own. She didn't have the heart to suppress Suzu, to hurt her. She had to get the others, if she ran she could get back to base in half an hour. Konan ran down the road, praying that Suzu would be fine.

***

Suzu ran through the forest, too high on adrenaline for notice the cuts lining her skin like red lace. She wanted to go back to that moment. The moment she first awoke and was blissfully ignorant. Then Sasori left and she remembered.

"ugh...no!" She clutched her head, howling in pain. She had to keep moving. She had to keep running. Suzu ran faster through the forest, jumping over logs and bushes. A sent lingered in the air but she didn't care. All that mattered was her to get as, far, far away from herself as she could get.

You can't run from yourself. The thought shot through her, she staggered in her step, nearly falling. She caught herself and kept going. She would try. She would find away to forget.

A thick log cut across her haphazard path, she leaped forward. Her jump short of fully clearing the log, her extended leg caught on the bark and she fell hard to the ground. Before she could gather her bearings to stand up she was flung into the air.

Cloth netting closed around her as she was bounced up and down, she clawed and kicked, tangling her ever more into the mesh. Two masked figures jumped down from the trees, landing silently on the ground. They both had the same strange metal on their foreheads. That weird question mark. Suzu remembered it from before.

"Who are you!?" She demanded, twisting and turning in the net. One masked person spoke slowly.

"Suzukanene." They said in a gentle voice. Suzu glowered at the masked female, under the thick clothes Suzu could vuagely see her feminine figure. The woman tugged on her mask and it came clean off. The woman shook her long red locks out and smiled at Suzu. "I am Toeto."

"Go away!" Suzu cried, franticly thinking how to escape. She was caught, like a run away dog.

"We want to be your friend Suzu." Toeto said calmly, her wine red eyes strangely inviting, glowing from within. Suzu was enchanted by the woman's eyes. She stopped in her struggles, her body captured by the neat; her mind by those eyes. "Join us Suzu. Join us."

"Y-ye-" Suzu's lips started forming the words. The woman nodded, encouraging her. Suzu tried but she couldn't speak properly, her mouth refusing to move any further.

"Say it," Toeto said more firmly, her eyes narrowing. A marring frown on her smooth face. Suzu faltered, her thoughts thinking beyond the woman's words.

"No!" She stammered out weakly. "I hate humans. I won't join you! Ever!"

"That is unfortunate." The woman scowled, her eyes flashing dangerously, darkening like black coals. "But I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter. You will join us, whether you like it or not." The woman jerked her head to the masked man and his hands flew though a series of hand signs.

Suzu stopped struggling, thinking carefully. She scurried the net, looking for any weakness in it. The woman was focused on the man, she took her chance. Suzu shifted carefully in the net, trying not to get more tangled in it than she already was. Her eyes caught sight of frayed rope. She turned and at the bottom of the net the rope was frayed and thin. If she could just break the rope she might have a chance of escape.

Her hands reached down and she picked at the rope, quick glance at the woman and men. Still distracted, the woman's head flinched and Suzu pulled her hands away from the rope. She was just in time as the woman turned to glare at her for a moment. Suzu prayed she didn't know what she was trying to do. The woman's eyes darted to the man, back to Suzu and again to the man. Toeto looked back to the man and Suzu took her chance.

The rope was still too strong to pull apart, Suzu picked at the rope, one thin strand at a time. She could cut the thin stands by pinching it between her finger and thumbnail. Suzu thanked the gods she liked to keep her nails long and sharp like claws.

A strand of rope broke; it pulled nicely through the woven mesh creating a small hole. Suzu didn't wait any time and started picking at another rope. She didn't look up at he woman periodically; she risked speed over getting caught.

"What are you doing?!" The woman's voice snapped, directed at Suzu like an arrow. Suzu growled and pulled on the remaining strands. They gave away and the hole grew larger. The woman was walking towards her now. Suzu didn't waste a beat and jammed her feet down into the hole. She cursed suddenly when she got to her hips and the rope tightened against them. The hole was still too small!

Mocking laughter came below her. "So you thought you could escape?" Toeto laughed again, high and obnoxious. "Nice try sweetie but you'll never escape us."

"I'm ready Toeto-sama" The man ruffed. Toeto smiled wickedly at Suzu.

"Good." She said. "Start."

"Hai."

Suzu squirmed in the hole, her legs kicking the open air. The air shimmered around her and she was reminded of the genjutsu in the Akatsuki base. The trees around her churned in their roots, dropping all their leaves. A shower of green covered her, when they fell past her she was thrown into a horrifying world.

A graveyard of barren trees surrounded her, their sharp angles curved towards her. The gray sky was dark, thunder rolling across it like fish jumping through water, each boom the smack of its tail. Each string of lightning its flashing scales. Dead branches grasped onto her pulling her madly about.

Suzu bit back her rising fear, trying to reason with herself. This wasn't really happening. She sniffed the air, no smell of death or decay lingered in the air like a veil of despair. The smells that cover the earth before a storm was absent as well. This was all an illusion.

Suzu closed her eyes; if she couldn't see it then it wasn't happening. The branches scarping her skin with their sandpaper bark. _'It's not real.'_ Suzu thought, clearing her mind. Fear hung around her. What if this wasn't an illusion? What if it was real? Suzu had never encounter humans like this before. She didn't know what they were capable of.

"Open your eyes deary." Toeto's smooth voice sang through the air. Suzu opened her eyes. The thunder, the trees, everything as still there but for Toeto. Standing before her. "Make your pact with me." Toeto smiled, her eyes glowing red.

The brown dog howled in anger.

She screamed, and screamed and screamed. She screamed her anger, her pain, her hate. Toeto slapped her but she refused to stop. She kept screaming, her keening voice matching the angry howl of the brown dog.

Toeto screamed too, hateful words of disdain, indignant. Suzu couldn't hear them, the dogs pitching voice rolling through her head.

Her screams turned to howls. Arms wrapped around her and she pushed them away. She reeled forward, her body landing on ground. Something far back within her told her to run and she did. Her howls subsided as her lungs burned for air. She kicked hard off the ground, pieces of the net clinging to her.

Arms grabbed her and held her back; the smell of blood was fresh in the air. Voices called out to her, familiar ones. Her body crumpled into its self and she was released. Her shoulder crashed into the ground, hitting it hard. She whimpered, panting as her blood cooled down.

A slender hand stroked her forehead. Konan's voice whispering to her. Her voice telling her everything was okay now. That she was safe.

Suzu didn't believe her; she was never safe. She would never be safe. Konan helped her to sit up and Suzu relaxed. Her thoughts lingered back to her aunt; Konan was similar to her aunt. They had the same kind of eyes, sad but always searching for that hope to lead them through.

Auntie told her she had wild eyes, the eyes of a wolf. She laughed despite her aching, bruised body. She told her aunt that she wanted to be a wolf; that she would live in the forest, hunting animals for all her meals. Auntie told her she would be a great wolf.

"Suzukanene?" Konan's face slurred into focus before her. Suzu looked into the woman's eyes. They were very sad eyes, but hopeful. So hopeful.

"Konan..." Suzu whispered. Konan smiled and picked her up, sliding her arm gently over her shoulder. Suzu closed her eyes, her fatigue over taking her. Inside her mind the brown dog growled threateningly, its howls calling back that memory. Suzu forced it back, thoughts of home replacing them.

_'Auntie is fine.'_ Suzu thought warmly. _'And I will be too, the outside world is scary, but I will survive. Like the wolf, I will stand strong and proud.'_

She looked up at Konan; the woman focused on caring for her. "I'm sorry Konan." She muttered weakly.

"I understand" Konan smiled. "But we can talk later, right now we need to get you treated."

"Yeah." Suzu let herself be carried away. She closed her eyes, closing in a semi-dream like world. She could feel her body being passed on, strong arms grabbed her, pulling her up. She was laying down on some soft surface. She didn't really care at the moment. She was simply too tired.

Konan stroked her face, her head in the woman's lap.

Something stirred in the bottom of her stomach. A ghost of her past, whispering to her, its soft child voice singing. _'One body for the soul, one word to spark the mind. One life to call back the soul. A new life is made from death'_

The ghost sang over and over again, dancing in tight circles to it's own rhythm. The dog barked beside her.

She was thrown back to that moment.

_'One body for the soul'_

The knife was in her hand.

_'One word to spark the mind'_

The incantation's slid of her lip.

_'One life to call back the soul'_

She smiled at her helpless pry, his eyes wide. She laughed at the irony. She stabbed the heart. Life's blood spilling over her.

_'A new life is made from death'_

***

"Keep up." Hayato growled to his child. Suzu whimpered her father's hand squeezed around her wrist. The skin had turned color, a sickly gray, blue color. She walked faster, shuffling into pace beside her father. Hayato glanced down at her and released some of his hold.

"Father…" Suzu stared at the passing scenery; they were walking a winding forest path, light shining through gaps in trees. They were close to the flower field. "Why must we go see mother?"

"Because it makes your mother happy." Hayato dejectedly told her, "You're mother needs company,"

The dead don't need company. Suzu wanted to say but didn't. She said something like that before and father hit her.

They walked in silence down the path; Suzu wished she could be one of the birds in the trees. Unattached to the world, free to go anywhere they want to. Free from the pain that comes from living grounded.

The forest opened up into a wide, irregular shaped field. The ground before her was painted with vibrant color and texture. The Moon Wisp in particular was in bloom. A special flower that only blooms on the day of a full moon and dies on the night of the new one. It was her mother's favorite flower.

Hayato dragged her to the bare spot where a single tombstone stood. The familiar words engraved on it. Suzu couldn't read the words but father told her what they were long ago. Hayato bowed his head and glared at Suzu when she didn't follow suite. The young girl respectfully dropped her head. She hated today.

"I miss mother."

The solid impact left her stunned, she fell to the ground, crying. Her head throbbed painful.

"Miss her?" Father spat the words out, raging. "You can't miss what you never had! I grew up with her; I loved her. I miss her. You don't know anything! You can never know anything! Don't pretend you understand; don't fake innocence. If you were never born she would still be with me! You spoiled, rotten brat! You killed your own mother!"

Suzu brawled tears, her body convulsing. Hayato hit her again, I harsh punch to her back.

"Stop crying! You can't cry for your mother. You can't cry for any of the right reasons!"

Suzu screeched. "I'm crying because I got a crappy father like you! I hate you! I hate you!"

Hayato's dark eyes started glowing with malice. "You should have been the one to die. A worthless piece of shit like you has no place in this world. You don't submit yourself to the humans; you're wild, untamed. You break the tradition of our people." He pulled out a knife from a pouch hanging from his waste. "How many times have I sharpened this weapon, thinking of that ritual. To bring the dead back to life. One body for the soul, one word to spark the mind, one life to call back the soul, a new life is made from the dead."

He lifted the knife above his head and held it there. Uncertainty flashed across his strut features and Suzu lunged. She rammed into his leg knocking him off balance. He dropped the knife and stagged back. Suzu crawled to the knife and held it out before her. Hayato growled as he called upon his Inu powers.

Fear. Its probing fingers grasped at her mind and she ran. She ran, knife in hand through the field. Father chased her and he was already caught up with her. He reached out but tripped, his foot falling through a mole hole in the ground. He hissed in pain as his leg twisted. The bone chilling crack hovering in the air.

Suzu stood over her father, the man's eyes wide. "One body for the soul." She said effortlessly. The fear was gone, replaced by irrevocable anger. A desire for revenge.

"Stop!" Hayato cried, too stunned to think.

"One word to spark the mind." Suzu continued, raising the knife above her head. Hayato screaming at her stop, threating her. "One life to call back the soul."

"Stop!"

"Mother will love me." The tears ran down her face. The knife aimed at his heart. "She will love me and we will be happy! A new life is made from the dead."

She brought down the knife. The metal cut through his skin, blood spurting up, covering her with its sticky redness. The tears burned, the wound wasn't deep enough to kill him. Hayato laughed, the harsh sickness of it pain to her ears.

"Let me help you." He grabbed the weapon and brought it down hard, killing himself instantly.

Suzu waited, bloody and miserable. She licked her lips, the salty taste of the water mixing with the metallic tang of blood.

Her mother didn't come back and now her father was gone. Night fell quickly upon her and she sat by her father's corpse. Around her the supple Moon Wisp glowed under the light of the full moon. She looked at her bloody hands and screamed. Screamed. Screamed.


End file.
